Potter Stinks: Gender and Species in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series

Decades after captivating the globe with the Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowling ignited fierce controversy by promoting anti-trans views through social media and her website. The ensuing debate prompted a re-reckoning of the series’ latent conservatism as devoted fans grappled with its lionized author’s online vitriol against a vulnerable group. In the wake of this controversy, Potter Stinks: Gender and Species in J. K. Rowling’s ＂Harry Potter＂ Series critically examines the limitations of the liberalism embedded within the series. At the same time, the book highlights what remains worthy of celebration and rekindles important conversations about the intersection of literature, ideology, and social change.

Looking primarily at the original seven books, author Keridiana Chez discusses how gender and species discourses operate in wizarding society, intersecting with questions of class, technology, and labor as well as gender and species fluidity and trans identities. Potter Stinks serves as a vital contribution to Harry Potter scholarship, paving the way for a more nuanced understanding of one of the most influential literary franchises of our time.

Keridiana Chez is associate professor of English at Borough of Manhattan Community College, part of City University of New York. She is author of Victorian Dogs, Victorian Men: Affect and Animals in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture and various essays on human-animal studies and Harry Potter, publishedin edited collections and journals such as Victorian Review and Journal of American Culture.